Little Big Planet is finally here in time for Guy Fawkes Night. Three Speech got some proper hands-on time to see if it’s a rocket or merely a sparkler.

There’s been a lot of hype about this game, and plenty of videos knocking around, so that by now you’ll know LBP is a socially interactive, hugely customisable platform game starring the potentially iconic Sackboy. Eventually you’ll be able to create your own customised world with levels you’ve created that you can invite others to share in. But what’s it like as a game? We delved in and had a little fun.

The look of the game is totally unique and conveys a sense of fun from the off. Your world is a rag-tag assortment of different shapes and fabrics, and much of it appearing as cheerfully colourful cardboard cut-outs, lending it a surreal style.

First off, as Stephen Fry talks you through the tutorial (adding a good dose of very British humour) you’ll spend plenty of time seeing what makes Sackboy tick. The digital direction pad controls Sackboy’s range of facial expressions, happy, sad, scared, angry, press the shoulder buttons and move the relevant left or right analogue stick and you can move his arms. Sackboy can grab and jump, and that’s really all you need.

Pressing the square button brings up your Popit – a little icon menu that allows you to access the many features of which there are too many to mention. The upshot is you collect stickers and can put them anywhere you like, and there’s even a little camera so you can make your own images from the world around you. You can constantly customise Sackboy with collected costumes too.

It’s not 3D in the way something like Ratchet and Clank plays. Rather Sackboy moves across a depth of just three planes. This means it has far more in common with classic 2D platformers like Mario, but that doesn’t detract from the gameplay. The physics are superb, with a really solid feel and great collision management – Sackboy bounces around his environment in a fun, realistic kinda way.

There are loads of areas already set up and forming the basis of the game. We had chance to explore the (largely tutorial) King’s Gardens levels and a jungle animal themed Savannah levels, where pop-up Meerkats, mechanical crocs and toy monkeys provide both the story and the physical obstacles. Dangers come in the form of spiked pits, nasty swamps and fire. Sackboy must find a path through this by swinging, bouncing and climbing, and collecting bubbles and special collectibles along the way. You can ride things like wheeled horses and a giant skateboard, by grabbing hold of them, giving them a little push and hopping on to see where they take you.

While it’s essentially simple arcade fun and also kiddie friendly, there’s enough of a challenge for hardcore gamers in negotiating levels and plenty of replay value in the collectibles and from a sense of wanting to ace each level and go for high scores.

Once you’ve played through a fair few levels you’ll be able to create your own from scratch or templates with bits you’ve collected on the way. Stuff like waterwheels, balls, blocks etc that you can place wherever you want and scale to whatever size. A very simple design interface makes it easy to create levels once you’ve acquired the furniture. These levels are saved to your own personal moon, and can be shared online.

In single player it’s looking a lot of fun, but it’s more enjoyable with other people involved too. We didn’t get the chance to get online with it just yet, but in local multiplayer, working cooperatively with up to three mates, it’s a riot. There are parts of each level that can only be done by working together with another Sackboy, though they’re optional.

We’re sure we’ve just scratched the surface of what this game can do, but time will tell how good it’s going to be – it will all depend on how people take to it and get involved in creating and sharing. But at its core would appear to be a cute, beautifully simple and very enjoyable platform game with potentially endless user-generated content.